Danny’s slow roast belly of pork to die for recipe
Posted by Fiona Nevile in Pork Ham Bacon Sausages | 143 comments
Joint of pork belly with skin side down ready for slow roast
We have Sunday Lunch in the evening and Danny usually cooks it. If I have the day off, I can spend hours in the garden and totter in at dusk to a great meal. Perfect.
Last week he cooked the best pork that I have ever tasted. I had bought belly of pork from Fred Fitzpatrick on a whim.
Danny was polite and definitely suspicious when I showed him the thin joint. Belly of pork is a slim, boy racer sort of cut. A rib of small bones and meat that appears to be stingy. Wrong. BOP has loads of meat.
I was working last weekend and arrived home to tantalising smells drifting from the oven.
“I found a great recipe. But didn’t have the ingredients so made up my own and experimented with a new method,” D explained, as he sliced the delicious meat.
The pork had a deep, mellow flavour and the crackling was truly superb. The skin and fat both took starring roles. Proper crackling underpinned by a sparkling melt in the mouth layer beneath. I was not eating ‘fat’ but gently roasted, bite sized pieces of heaven that had transmogrified in the long slow cooking process into something with texture and flavour. I would kill for a decent pork scratching. Danny’s home made version impressed me and after the first forkful of meat I reeled with applause and, I hate to admit it, envy.
Edit Oct 2015: Getting the crackling good and crispy can be a hit and miss affair. Every oven is different. See Sue’s comment below. If it’s rubbery, you can pop it under a low grill for 5 minutes or more but be careful not to let it blacken and burn. I guess it’s best to play safe and score it, and rub on salt and oil in the traditional manner.
Do also consider serving this perfect Yorkshire pudding recipe with this or any roast.
| Danny’s slow roast belly of pork to die for recipe |
- I kilo joint of belly of pork
- 10 leaves off a sprig of rosemary
- 3 small cloves of garlic sliced
- Foil big enough to form a nest under and around the joint
- Place the pork, crackling side down, in roasting pan. Distribute the rosemary and garlic evenly over the base of the belly. Take the foil and press it over the belly to make sure that the herbs will not shift.
- Turn the whole lot over, crackling side up, and form the foil into a snug nest around the joint, leaving the crackling exposed and ensuring that the fat from the crackling will drip into the foil nest.
- Roast at 140c (fan) for 3 hours and then turn down to 130c for another hour (4 hours!) – these are our fan-assisted oven temperatures so you may wish to adjust for a conventional oven, but not by much I think. Maybe +10% maximum.
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Hi Kate,
I’m lucky. D is a man that loves his home. He is happy to help with anything that happens in a roofed environment and truly shines, compared to me. Any unroofed projects are carried out by me and John Coe!
Gee, this sounds delicious. I think you are lucky have Sunday lunch cooked for you! The scent of the pork cooking with the garlic and rosemary must have been heavenly!
Hi Tammy,
Danny is a fantastic cook when it comes to getting the best out of a roast. I don’t even compete anymore which makes Sunday’s very restful.
Wow. I’m sold!
I was bowled over by the smell, Celia. We didn’t have any accompaniments but next time….And nothing left for sarnies!
Hope you enjoy the recipe, Sara
Unfortunately Danny doesn’t travel well at the moment, Amanda. Thanks so much for the awards.
Amalee, I have found that a handful of wild bird seed scattered where I want the chickens to be works wonders on the language front. Glad that you had a good time!
p.s. I’ve given you a couple of well deserved awards! The gongs are on my blog.
Hi you two. I’ve spent this past weekend babysitting four chickens for a friend. Your blog has been useful for fowl tips and hints. Although I guess I had to learn in my own time that chickens don’t speak English, as in “come on girls, its time to go to bed now. ok come on now. if you con’t come to the shed now, the fox might get you…” Had fun though.
amalee
Danny is welcome to cook here anytime he feels like it! I’d even clean the oven for him.
We love belly posk and will certainly be trying Danny’s way of cooking it. Thanks for sharing. Sara from farmingfriends
Oh I can imagine the divine smell!!! bet that was soooooo yummy! Did you have apple sauce with it? or crab apple jelly? or mustard? and is there some left over for sarnies today?